UN mission calls for arms embargo to cover all of Sudan — Anadolu Agency
The Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for Sudan said at a press conference in New York, United States, that foreign arms supplies, military technologies, logistical support and foreign personnel continue to sustain and intensify the war in Sudan. The mission called on the international community to step up action and extend the arms embargo to the entire country.
External support for the parties to the war
The mission’s chair, Mohamed Chande Osman, said the investigation found reasonable grounds to believe that external actors had supplied resources to both sides of the conflict, helping them conduct military operations. As Anadolu Agency reports, investigators identified a cross-border network of individuals and organizations in Chad, Somalia’s Puntland, southeastern Libya and the United Arab Emirates involved in supplying weapons and training foreign fighters.
At the same time, Osman stressed that the mission does not currently link the governments of the mentioned states to these activities on the basis of the available evidence. According to him, these are individuals and entities operating on the territories of these countries. The mission is in contact with the UAE and Chad; Chad denies that its territory is being used for such purposes, while the investigation into the possible roles of other states is ongoing.
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Risks for civilians
Mission member Mona Rishmawi said that both sides of the conflict and their allies are effectively destroying a country with a population of 56 million people. Another mission member, Joy Ngozi Ezeilo, supported expanding the embargo, as well as extending the mandate of the International Criminal Court to all of Sudan.
The mission noted that civilians in the strategic city of El-Obeid are in grave danger because the city is partially surrounded by the Rapid Support Forces. According to the mission, drone strikes attributed to these forces damaged schools and sites housing displaced people, while also making access to medical care, electricity and water more difficult. At the same time, security structures linked to the Sudanese Armed Forces have intensified surveillance and arbitrary arrests.
The Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces have been fighting since April 2023 after disputes over the integration of military formations escalated. The war has claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced about 13 million people amid hunger and a deepening humanitarian crisis.
